56 pages • 1 hour read
Stephen KingFairy Tale
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies are the Gallien family’s chosen symbol; it’s no coincidence that “monarch” means royal. Within the narrative, monarch butterflies symbolize the resilience of beauty and hope for the liberation of Empis. In the days of Gallien rule, swarms of monarchs covered the city, but after the coup, the Empirians assume all the butterflies are dead.
As Charlie first approaches Lilimar, he feels unsettled by the city’s dark and haunting presence. When a cloud of monarchs rises from the palace, however, the “darkness [breaks] apart” (321). The moment of beauty dispels his fears and renews his sense of hope. Within the walls of Lilimar, Charlie sees destroyed monarch motifs everywhere. This destruction symbolizes the Galliens’s fall and the way Flight Killer tried to stomp out all hope in the populace. Yet the continued endurance of the live monarchs indicates that he did not succeed. No manner how many monarchs Flight Killer murders, he cannot quash the Empirians’s conviction to fight for their freedom.
In Deep Maleen, the prisoners are surprised and delighted to hear about the survival of the monarchs. The knowledge that this symbol of better times endures motivates them to take up the fight against the evil that rules the city. Even the idea of monarch butterflies shines a light into the dungeon’s dark heart. After their escape, a cloud of monarchs helps the rebellion by suffocating several night soldiers in a literal battle between light and darkness.
With Flight Killer gone, the monarchs proliferate once more. When Charlie and his father visit Empis for the final time, Charlie’s father notes the presence of “so many monarchs” (638). Their thriving indicates that all is well in Empis once more.
Jack and the Beanstalk
Charlie often contextualizes his situation by referencing fairy tales, which helps him parse the otherworldly nature of his adventure. The story he comes back to the most is “Jack and the Beanstalk.” In the old, English fairy tale, Jack is a poor boy who trades his family’s dairy cow for a handful of magic beans, which grow into an enchanted beanstalk. His family is distraught, thinking he wasted their resources. The first time Jack ascends the beanstalk, he comes away with a bag of golden coins, which helps his dire financial situation. However, he is not satisfied, and greed drives him to ascend the beanstalk again instead of being satisfied with what he has. His subsequent climbs up the beanstalk endanger his life when he meets the Giant who lives at the top.
The stairs down into the well of the worlds are essentially a reversed beanstalk. Mr. Bowditch and Charlie both play the part of Jack, climbing downwards to avail themselves of the other world’s benefits. Their motivations are different, however; Mr. Bowditch descends into Empis to steal gold and prolong his life, and Charlie’s only goal is to save Radar. Mr. Bowditch’s repeated visits to Empis mirror Jack’s second and third trips up the beanstalk: frivolous and self-serving. Charlie’s visit is more like Jack’s first journey, in that he is only looking to do what he feels is necessary for his loved ones.
“Jack and the Beanstalk” has two possible endings, “one light and one dark” (200). Mr. Bowditch and Charlie each represent one of these endings. At the end of his life, Mr. Bowditch is wealthy but alone. By giving in to the “dark strain” of greed in his heart, he doomed himself to the darker ending. Charlie avoids Mr. Bowditch’s mistake by rising above greed. Though he too feels drawn to the gold, he does not steal anything and declines to take a turn on the magical sundial. After leaving Empis, he seals off the well, symbolically chopping down the beanstalk and avoiding the temptation of additional self-serving visits. After saving the Empirians and achieving his goal of renewing Radar’s life, Charlie achieves the happy ending to “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
Books
Fairy Tale pays frequent homage to King’s favorite works of literature. His epigraph reads “Thinking of REH, ERB, and…HPL” (4), likely a reference to science fiction and fantasy authors Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H.P. Lovecraft. He liberally enhances Charlie’s internal monologue with references to fantasy greats, most notably Ray Bradbury and Lovecraft. King is openly a fan of these authors, and he directly acknowledges the inspiration he drew from them within the novel.
Beyond a callout to King’s favorite authors, the references help contextualize Charlie’s experiences. When presented with novel creatures or otherworldly experiences in Empis, Charlie often calls on books and stories to help him understand. When he learns about the sundial, for example, he compares it to the time-altering carousel in Something Wicked This Way Comes and wonders whether Bradbury ever visited Empis.
Charlie leans heavily on H.P. Lovecraft to help him understand the dark side of Empis’s magic. When he enters Lilimar for the first time, he notices that things are “wrong in a way…I [couldn’t] have consciously understood” (326) except for Lovecraft’s work. He draws on Lovecraft’s vocabulary to describe the scenery, using words like “eldritch” and “mephitic” (328), and it’s this connection that makes him understand that something monstrous must have happened in the city. King directly references the most infamous of Lovecraft’s cosmic monsters, Cthulhu, by name; at the end of the novel, Flight Killer transforms into a giant tentacled entity reminiscent of Cthulhu.
At key moments, Charlie uses his literary knowledge to guide his decisions. When contemplating stealing gold from the palace, for example, he remembers the moral of King Midas’s tale and decides against it. As he faces down Gogmagog, he draws on his knowledge about Rumpelstiltskin to figure out how to defeat the monster. The lessons imparted by these narratives help him to avoid dangerous mistakes.
Throughout Charlie’s journey, King emphasizes how books can be a source of comfort, knowledge, and even moral guidance as we navigate life. Fairy Tale itself fits into this dynamic by offering readers an escapist fantasy with an ending intended to leave them fulfilled and happy.
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